The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1887-01-26
A WONDERFUL LIFEBOAT,
THE CRAFT USED BY AMERICAN
LIFE SAVING CREWS.
1t Rights Itself When Capsized and
Balls Itself out i'm Heavy Weather
Its AdiunCts.

DOat, nor SO suggestive OF bpeeu as tne
steam yacht, every timber in its body,
every line in its model speaks OF strength
and ability to ride the waves on its err
rands of humanity. The lifeboat has
character. 1t is a poem in itself. And
it costs 81, 500.
What would you think If man should |
say to you that Ike knew where there was !
a boat which, if capsiZed, will right her
self, and which, if filled with water, will |
bail herself out2 You might not believe
him, but such a craft is the liGeboat |
which Captain ST. Peter and his crew so
lovingly keep in their bright, clean boat.
room The lifcboat--what a world OF
adventure, danger, struggles, rescues, he
roism, tragedies, does the very word bring
to the minds twenty-seven feet long,
seven feet broad, nearly four deep, car
ries eight oars, and weighs, when empty
1900 pounds.
The lifeboat rarely goes over, but when
this accident does occur she rights her
SELF because in her keel there is slug
of iron weighing 1,400 pounds, this
weight giving to her keel constant de-
termination toward the water, and be-
cause in either end there is an enormous
air-tight bulkhead of cork, and ranged
along her sides are fourteen other air
tight compartments, scientifically pro-
portioned, giving the upper portion of
the boat a constant determination or ten
dency to rise from the water. This is
easily understood. Heavy below and
buoyant on top, of course she is like a
cat, always sure to alight on her feet.
The self bailing is not 80 easy to under
stand. You would not think that boat
with seven or eight big holes in her bot
tom would float at all, would youl But
that is Just the kind of craft the life
boat is. Tubes reach right down through
her bottom to the water. In these wells
the water rises from below to the level
of the lake. But it does not rise to the
! deck, because the deck is always above
| the level of the lake. With the boat
plunging into the waves water would, OF
course, spout up through the wells and
flood the deck were there not a check
valve in each tube, which closes by the
pressure of the water from below. But
when in the surf and waves sweep over
the craft and fill her shallow deck with
water, what then2 Why the water rushes
down thu ough the wells. 1t does this
because the check-valves open To the
water from above, and because the deck
is higher than the level of the lake.
Water will always seek its lcvel-that is,
it will run off if there is any place it can
run to-and this is the principle utilized
in making the lifeboat bail herself out.
The lileboat is fitted with every con-
ceivable device to secure safety and for
service in aase of disaster. Particular
attention is paid to the stowage of its
ropes, lines and anchors, extra oars, haw-
sers, hfe-preservers, axes, boat hooks,
ETC., these being arranged by strict
method with reference to economy of
space and facility of use, and always kept
on board lest some of them should be for
gotten in the excitement of a sudden
summons for wreck duty. The life-pre-
servers used by Captain st. Peter and his
men are the best known. They are Sc
curely tied round the body and over the
shoulders, leaving the arms free for work.
Every man puts on a life -preserver be-
fore taking his place in the boat, and the
Captain, who must stand erect in his
position as helmsman, is often compelled
to lash himself to the boat.
"And sometimes u the grim Captain
adds, II have to have man hold me to
keep me on my feet"
With one OF these big life-preservers
round his body Captain St. Peter could
almost walk the water, like st. Peter of
old, so great is their buoyancy. The
life-preservers in common use on steam
ships are ilimsy affairs, made of granu
lated cork sewed up in canvas. If the
canvas rips or tears the cork runs out and
the usefulness of the preseryer is de-
stroyed.
An invaluable accessory of the lifeboat
is a drag bag. A drag bag looks good
deal like fishermans net. Even a life
boat would be rather ronghly used in
the breakers il it were not for the skill
of its crew and the services of this little
bag. Its office is almost like that of an
anchor. When the boat is approaching
shore, and the big breakers are rolling
high and mighty, there is danger that a
great sea will lift the boat high in the
air or throw her upon the beach, or twist
her broadside to and land her "A wreck
upon the shore. Under such circum-
stances the Captain watches the seas with
an eager eve. Just before one breaks
over the boat he gives orders to the man
sitting next him in the stern to heave the
bag. Trailing after the boat the bag in
stantly fills with water, and pulls back
/ ulllOoJ Win liS poNSl VI an hhtlbi WCll
grounded. The sea ushes by, and then
the Captain orders the trip-lne pulled.
The trip-line is attached to the closed ol
rear end of the bag, and when it is
pulled and the bag reversed, of course il
offers no further resistance to the water.
When another heavy sea approaches the
trip line is played out again, and again
the bag fills with water and "holds back
with tremendoug power while The
breaker rushes harmlessly past the boat
The drag-bag is one of the latest devices
adopted by the service, and its utility
has been proved on hundred occasions
The anchor of the lifeboat weighs 13i
{ pounds, and its cable is sixty fathoms ol
! $50 feet long. The heaving line, in
whose use avery life-saver is as great al
expert as the lassoist of the Southwestern
COW country is 1870 feet long and flies
from the Captains hand to a wreck al